


To death do us part

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Blood and Gore, Dead People, Dysfunctional Family, Family Dynamics, Forehead Touching, Gen, Ghosts, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Talking To Dead People, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 14:24:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18096068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Klaus isn't normally of use and even when he is, it's almost always an accident, but he's been sober for years and he's been getting stronger and he wants to do something nice for his family. Every member of their ram-shackle bunch.So what if he's doing it for his own gain as well- nobody but Ben and himself need to know that. Klaus was going to bring Ben back even if it killed him. Let's just say Klaus got more than he bargained for.And he doesn't really know what to do now that he has it.(Klaus brings Ben back to physical form and his siblings finally get to see and touch him again, but it comes with the added bonus of his siblings seeing the screaming ghosts that terrorise their brother every moment of the day and finally understand why he took the drugs when he did)





	1. Ben

**Author's Note:**

> This is for @Mhxirii who requested this as I was in the middle of writing this, so even if I didn't make it with you in mind, I thought I'd just do it anyway. Chapter two won't be as long as this but it'll still hurt you like a motherfuck. Let me know if you liked this x I'm very proud of it. I hope it isn't as shit as the summary or the tags make it out to be.

When the other’s entered the sitting room they were met with the surprising image of Vanya sitting quietly on the couch, polity sipping her tea while Klaus sat with his arm’s outstretched and eyes closed. When Luther met Vanya’s eyes, she shrugged and turned back to their brother, who was now muttering obscenities to Ben. “No, I don’t know it’s going to work but you could at least let me give it a fucking go brother _dear_.”

Luther moved to crouch down beside his brother and placed a hand on his knee. “Klaus, what the hell are you doing?” Instead of answering, Klaus squeezed his eyes shut tighter and gestured over the table more violently. Resisting the urge to sigh, Luther turned to Five, who had entered the room with him. “Go fetch the others.” Five blinked away in a burst of blue light.

In all the time while the others had been gone, Klaus hadn’t moved from his position exact for the velocity at which he waved his arms around and when the others entered the room, Luther gave up and went to lean against the back wall. “He’s being strange again,” He said at his siblings questioning stares and Diego rolled his eyes. Allison elbowed him in the side as she went to join Diego beside their brother. “What?”

Diego plonked onto the open space on the couch beside Klaus and sat silently. Klaus only reacted when Allison walked over and pushed his hands down to his sides. He gave a defeated huff and reclined back against the pillows, threading his hands into his hair. “Shut the fuck up Ben,” he muttered under his breath.

“What’re you up to?” Diego asked evenly, having had experience with this sort of thing before.  “It looks stressful.”

“While I appreciate the tiny amount of concern you’re willing to give me; I doubt you’ll believe me if I told you.” Klaus’s voice was muffled with his hands covering his mouth. His eyes peaked through his fingers and he stared thoughtfully around the room, nodding. “Yeah, good idea Ben. I’ll try that next.”

Allison sat on the arm of the couch. “Why don’t you just explain what you’re trying to do? We could help you.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at her. “Oh, yes, because you all suddenly have expertise in taking to the dead.” He glanced at Vanya and she shrugged. “Is it worth it?”

“It’s not like they can really stop you,” Vanya said around her teacup. “You don’t need their permission. If you want to try it then you should do it.”

Luther glared between his two siblings. “Wait, you’ve told Vanya what crazy thing you’re up to now but you’re not willing to tell the rest of us?”

“Very astute of you, Luther. I like Vanya,” Klaus defended sternly. Vanya hid her smile behind her teacup. “She’s not a judge-y bitch all the time and lets me go through with my stupid ideas.”

“Which, as we’ve learnt, are not always good things.” Five interjected, taking a step forward. “So either you tell us what you’re doing Klaus or we take the information from you by force. There is nothing you could be doing that would be so secretive that you can’t tell us.”

Klaus leant back against the couch and crossed his hands over his chest. There was something fierce burning in his eyes that nobody could really identify, but it was deadly. “Yeah, Ben, you’re right. If they really gave a fuck they would have taken an interest in my life ages ago, but instead, they were happy just to let me die alone on the streets.”

Diego opened his mouth to speak but Luther interrupted him, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Are you going to tell us Klaus or are you just wasting our time?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll tell you, but not to involve you.” Klaus snapped. “I just want you to leave me the fuck alone and let me practice. Besides, I’m all about spite, and it’s gonna kill you to know about something and not get involved.”

“Well, what is it?” Allison asked, already exhausted with the conversation.

Smugly, Klaus met the eyes of his siblings in turn. “I’m trying to bring Ben back.”

The following uproar was as satisfying as Klaus was expecting. Beside him, Ben sniggered into his hand and watched his family descend into chaos.

Eventually, the loud arguing ceased when Diego slammed his hand repeatedly on the table until everyone shut up and turned their attention to him. Klaus was still sitting back smugly on the couch. “Klaus, you know that’s a fucking crazy idea, right? You can’t bring Ben back.”

“I’m getting better,” Klaus insisted. “He can touch me now, and interact with things.” He waved his hand at the book on the table. “Ben, pick that up and show them.”

Ben frowned. “I’m not your slave.”

“I know but if you prove this to them I’ll buy you all the chocolate you want,” Klaus said and Ben rolled his eyes but reached out to the coffee table. He lifted the book high into the air and let it go to fall heavily onto the wooden tabletop with a _slap!_ “See?” Klaus waved his arms around excitedly. “I’m getting stronger, I’m sure I can do it. And even if I can’t, who gives a shit?”

“I think we should humour him,” Vanya shrugged at the resulting glares from her family. “It’s not going to hurt anyone. And if he can’t do it, I’m sure it’ll still be funny to watch. And if he can then we get our brother back. It’s a win-win for everyone, I think.”

Reluctantly, Luther threw his hands up in the air. “Fine,” He sighed. Satisfied, the others sat down on free chairs or available wall space. “But if you hurt yourself, Klaus, I swear to god you deserved it.”

Klaus stuck his tongue out at him and sat back against the chair. He turned to Ben who was watching the scene unfold with amusement, his chin resting on his palm. “Let’s try this again buddy,” Klaus stretched his arms out before him, wiggled his fingers and closed his eyes.

Nothing happened for a good, long while and after a few minutes, his siblings began to get impatient. Vanya just continued to quietly sip her tea. “This is ridiculous.” Five muttered as he sat forward and put his face in his hands, his elbows digging into his thighs. “We’re wasting precious time by indulging this silly experiment that is bound to get us nowhere.”

Ben glanced down at Klaus. “He’s right you know. I love you Klaus, but this isn’t going to work. I don’t care how sober you are, you’re not strong enough yet, and there’s no way you can bring me back.”

Despite not hearing a word Ben was saying, Vanya contradicted him. “Give him time. He could do it- I have faith.”

“He looks like he’s constipated,” Diego observed, sounding bored as he twirled a knife between his fingers. “He could have at least told us what we were waiting for.”

“If nothing happens in the next 10 minutes then I’m walking out,” Luther ran a hand down his face. Diego was right- Klaus looked like he was lacking in fibre more than he was trying to bring their dead brother to life.

Vanya waved her hand at him and he fell silent. “Be patient.”

“Klaus,” Ben said gently as he placed a hand on his brother’s arm in a gentle attempt to lower it. “Give it a rest. We both know that you’re not going to accomplish anything by straining yourself like this.”

“Shut up,” Klaus muttered under his breath and Allison, who was close enough to hear him, looked at him strangely. She made eye contact with Diego and he shrugged.

Sighing through his nose, Ben looked at Klaus sadly. “Come on man. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove. The fact that you’ve made me able to touch again is a feat in itself- you don’t have to try and do something so outrageous like this. We all know how powerful you are. Nobody doubts you anymore.”

“Ben shut the fuck up.”

“You can’t bring me back, Klaus.” Ben continued, struggling to keep his voice even. “I know that you think if you bring me back you could bring back Dave too, but that’s not how it works. You know that. You’ve tried enough times to know by now that it’s just a waste of time.”

“ _I told you to shut up_ ,” As Klaus spoke, a slight blue spark ignited by his fingertips and the others took an immediate step away. Diego held up his hands, dropping his knife, and threw himself on the other side of the couch. 

“Uh, Ben,” Allison said warily as she backed away into the wall. “Whatever it is you’re saying, I think you should keep doing it.”

Frowning at the glowing light from Klaus’s hands Ben moved around him until he was position by his feet and crouched down, looking up at him through his eyelashes. “We’re dead, Klaus. And there’s nothing you can do to change that. We'll always be corpses clinging on the edge of your life, sucking all the joy out of everything.”

_“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”_ Klaus shouted as the blinding blue light erupted from his hands and the room was bathed in a bright glow that made the siblings previously non-existent shadows dance across the furniture. When they lowered their arms and blinked the black spots from their eyes, they were met with the surprised from of their dead brother, staring at Klaus as if he had just grown a second head. When Ben caught sight of his siblings staring at him in shock, he looked down at his arms in wonder at finally being seen again.

Ben laughed with utmost joy as Allison, who was the closest, reached out and ran her hand down his arm. “Ben,” she breathed. The simple touch sent shivers down his spine. He hadn’t been touched by anyone other than Klaus in years. “It’s you.”

“He did it,” Diego cackled as he stood up and clapped Ben on the shoulder. Touch starved, Ben leant into the contact, even when Luther sprinted over and tousled his hair. Vanya jumped up, only just managing to place her tea on the counter before running at him and wrapping her arms tightly around his middle, sobbing into his jumper. Even Five, who was previously sitting stoically on the couch, had a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips that wasn’t usually there. “He actually fucking did it, that crazy little prick.”

But their joy was short-lived when they glanced around Klaus and the many grisly forms of about 40 moaning, screaming ghosts, dripping blood and missing body parts and all wailing Klaus’s name.

When Klaus opened his eyes he frowned at the ghosts surrounding him. “Not you,” he muttered. “I didn’t call any of you. Can I please have a few moments alone with my family and then I’ll get right to you? Please?” A male ghost that was missing all of his lower jaws groaned at Klaus. “Alright, fine. Stand in the corner at least, it’s bad enough having one ghost hanging on my ass all the time.”

Slowly, the ghosts retreated a little further back and Klaus turned back to his siblings. When he saw them all clinging onto Ben like their lives depended on it, the breath caught in his throat. He glanced down at his hands, then at his brother, then back at his hands. “Holy fucking shit,” He shouted, waving his arms above his head. “I fucking did it! It worked! And all you nay-sayers told me I would never do it and I proved you all wrong!” He glanced at one of his hands and caught sight of the faint blue glow under his long, manicured nails. “Oh, pretty. Not that bad of a sacrifice if we get to keep you, Ben.”

Vanya gasped and hid her face deeper into Ben’s jumper. “Klaus,” she asked and whimpered when a man missing the left side of his face came closer and raked his fingers through the ends of her hair. “What’s going on? Is this… what you always see?”

Klaus narrowed his eyes and waved his hand at Ben. “I mean; I’ve always seen Ben. Unless of course he was just being a prick and refused to show up, but he’s always been here. You guys know that.”

Gulping, Luther looked beyond Klaus and at the little girl missing both her eyes that was pulling at the back of his shirt. “No Klaus,” he said and Klaus paled. “We mean the ghosts.”

Whirling around, Klaus’s eyes widened and he jumped. “Oh no, no, no- out you go! See you later! I did not call any of you and you are not about to ruin this very special moment with your moaning!” He opened the door and ushered a few more willing ghosts out of the room but some remained in the corner. Klaus put his hands on his hips. “You guys are supposed to listen to me. Get out! I didn’t call you.”

Ben was watching Klaus fail to command the ghosts with such a sad look in his eyes that the other’s began to wonder how familiar the scenario was to them both. “Klaus, it’s alright. We’ll just try and ignore them. Come sit down.”

Reluctantly Klaus sat back down on the couch and did his best to ignore the ghosts hovering around him. Ben sat in the cluster of their family and Klaus couldn’t really blame them for being possessive- Klaus had gotten to live his whole life with Ben in it- they had lost him a very long time ago. “How are you doing buddy?” Diego asked, voice full of awe and as kindly as it’s ever been. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’ve been watching you all,” Ben laughed. “You’re all a bunch of fucking screw-ups, but you’re alright.” He jerked a thumb in Klaus’s direction, who was busy pushing away a ghost by the face. “But I’ve been stuck with him for so long I don’t really know what normal is anymore.”

Luther rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m uh- I’m sorry I broke your statue.”

“It’s fine,” Ben waved his hand dismissively. “I never liked that thing. I kept asking Klaus to sneak back while nobody was home and knock it down himself but he was always too high to ever remember. Besides- it looked nothing like me.”

Scrubbing away tears, Alison made sure to keep one hand on her brother at all times. She wasn’t sure how long they would have with him. “What was it like? Being dead and not being able to interact with anyone?”

Before he could reply a low, repetitive wail sounded through the room and Klaus rested his head heavily against the back of the couch as ghosts clawed and scratched at him and moaned his name loudly into his ears. “Well,” Ben sighed as he watched red welts sprout on Klaus’s pale skin. “I guess you’re about to find out a little bit.”

_Klaus_ , the ghosts screamed into his ears and Klaus tried his hardest to block them out and breathe slowly through his nose. It was a lot harder without Ben by his side, egging him on. _Klaus, helpus, Klaus, Klaus, please, KlausKlaus pleasepleaseplease helpushelpus Klaushelp Klaus, Klaus._

“Would somebody like to explain to me what the fuck is going on?” Five asked as he covered his ears with his hands. The ghosts were so loud he was worried that soon his brain would be leaking out of his ears. “I doubt this was rehearsed.”

Ben waved his hand and sat back, defeated, into the couch cushions. “This is normal.” He explained. “Sometimes they bite and pull at him so really they’re on their best behaviour today.”

“Why is it so loud?” Vanya asked, raising her hands to the side of her head as well. Less because the noise bothered her and more because she was worried about what she could do with all that noise. “Do they always scream at him like this?”

“They think that if they’re not loud then Klaus won’t hear them. He’s been ignoring them for so long and now they finally have a voice again they want to make sure they get in everything they want to say,” Ben watched as Klaus ran an exhausted hand down his face. “I don’t know what they expect him to do though. He’s only one man and they’re a million ghosts.”

Suddenly, Ben’s image shimmered and his siblings fell through him in a moment of surprise. Klaus’s eyes snapped open and he sat up, holding his hand out again. The light under his painted nails flared brighter and suddenly Ben was back again, as solid as if he had never died. “Well, I guess I didn’t bring you completely back to life,” Klaus said nervously, relaxing back against the couch. “But at least I know I can do it now. Except now I have these… unforeseen side effects.”

Diego turned on the couch to face Klaus who was sitting alone on the other side of the room. “Who are all these… people? Do you know them?”

“Nah,” Klaus ran his fingers through his hair and made it look more dishevelled than normal. “These are just my posse- I always told you I would be popular one day. I just never thought that my popularity would be with a bunch of ghosts.”

"You're doing great Klaus," Ben encouraged, being supportive even in situations where he was being held by his crying family. "Just breathe through it."  
  
"Is this how it always goes?" Five asked as he watched Klaus wince when ghost covered in heavy burns wailed into his hair and he covered his ears with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. "It seems rather... unpleasant."  
  
A ghost that was sliced to pieces reached forward and yanked at Klaus's hair, causing Klaus to yelp and swat it away "No touching! Go away! I'll chat with you later."  
  
The jawless ghost turned to Ben as if he could translate the wordless sounds he was making, but Ben just sighed and shrugged hopelessly. When the spectre turned away, Ben whispered to his siblings, "It's always been bad, but the mausoleum really messed him up. I can't blame him for taking the drugs, especially on days like today."  
  
Luther frowned. "What mausoleum?"  
  
"It's horrible," Vanya whispered, a hand over her mouth. Her hand was shaking. "It's so horrible."  
  
"Is this what he's had to go through every day?" Allison questioned, aghast. "No wonder he was always high out of his mind and drinking himself to death. If it really did dampen his powers, I can't blame him."  
  
Klaus was rocking back and forth on the couch, clutching at his hair. He was trying to make himself smaller so the ghosts didn't grab at him too much. The walls and furniture were dripping with blood and body parts littered the floor. It was horrible in every form of the word. "Klaus," Diego reached a hand out but he didn't go too far from Ben. "You can stop using your power. You can get rid of them."  
  
"But if I get rid of them," Klaus replied through gritted teeth. His hands tightened their hold in his hair. "Then Ben goes away too."  
  
Diego bit his lip and sat back and he felt the excitement leave his siblings as the air seemed to darken. "Oh, he said quietly, glancing between Klaus and Ben. "Fuck."  
  
The room almost began to blacken, not just in the atmosphere but in brightness and the ghosts fell silent. Klaus looked around wearily as a strong, overwhelming presence entered the room. "Number Four," their father announced, displeased. Klaus gasped and backed up to the other end of the couch. "How disappointing. I expected better from you, especially after all this time. You can't even manage to separate your brother from this meaninglessness babble of nonsense." He waved a bluish hand at the ghosts retreating into the darkness of the room before returning his hand behind his back. "I would have expected more from you."  
  
"Dad...?" Luther breathed, moving to stand, but Five, Diego and Ben made a joint effort to force him back down to the couch. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious, Number One?" Reginald observed Klaus with a clinic eye. "I've been awaiting Number Four's improvement for years so that he could finally conjure me back to physical form and we can continue on with our lives as normal. It's a shame that you've only been able to give me physically once, and the first time was when you had died and joined me in the afterlife."  
  
Diego choked on his spit. "Wait, when did Klaus die?"  
  
"He saved Luther's life in a rave- you know what, it doesn't matter," Ben said absently as he turned his attention back to Klaus, who was standing now with his hands fisted at his sides. "This is more important at the moment, I think."  
  
"Now that I am finally back," Reginald continued. "We can continue on as normal."  
  
"I don’t think so, old man." Klaus took a step towards his father and Reginald raised an amused eyebrow. "Our lives have actually been better now that you're not in it and I'm not about to ruin that." He waved with his left hand. " _Goodbye_."  
  
"Oh really?" Reginald hummed, unimpressed. "Because in my opinion, Number Four, you don’t have the guts to do anything about it. If you could have sent me away, you would have. Other than Number Six, you were always one of the most afraid of your powers, no matter how much I tried to train it out of you."  
  
Allison opened her mouth to respond but Ben beat her to it by standing up and making his way over to Klaus. "Hey man," he said gently, grabbing his brother by the shoulders, "Hey, hey, relax. I have an idea Klaus, to get rid of dad and the other ghosts.”

Panicked, Klaus shook his head. “No, Ben,” he hissed. “I’m not banishing all of you because I know that’s what you’re going to say.” He bit his lip and Ben tried to hold him still. “No, I can deal. I can cope with all of them, it’s alright, you need to spend time with the others. They deserve it and so do you. You more than anyone else in the world deserve this Ben. ”

“But you know you can do this whenever now,” Ben cooed gently. “We know that you can make this happen any time we want. So just get rid of everyone now, rest and recover, and when you’re feeling between we can try this again. How does that sound?”

Klaus felt the need to melt into his shoes and never speak to anyone ever again, but Ben placed his forehead to his and whispered pleads into Klaus’s ear and at that point, what kind of an asshole was he to refuse his brother’s wishes, no matter how annoying they were. “Ok,” he relented softly and Ben gripped the back of his neck in a final, firm hold.

“You’ll see me again soon,” Ben said, pulling away and smiling at his siblings. “I say that because I’m always here and I’ve been watching you fools mess around and fuck everything up for years.”

Nodding a confident goodbye, Ben turned to Klaus, who reluctantly extended his arm, closed his open hand into a fist, and the light under his fingertips died. The room descended into silence as the ghosts, including Ben and their father, vanished. At least from the sibling’s perspective. For Klaus, Ben sent him a sad but loving smile as the others glanced around in shock.

One by one, his siblings left the room in various states of distress and tears while he stood there, swaying in exhaustion. That little display of power took more out of him than he thought. Vanya hid her face in her hand as she left the room sobbing and Allison followed soon after, silent. Luther slammed the door to his bedroom before they could hear the loud sounds with something heavy colliding with the wall. Diego stared at the place Ben had been before roaring loudly and throwing a knife into the couch and storming away. His car was heard starting up and squealing away down the street.

Five was the last to leave and he stood up like his old bones were aching. As he passed Klaus, he clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a half-hearted squeeze. “You did good,” he praised as he left the room. Klaus was left alone in the silent room. Even Ben, invisible beside him, felt that speaking wasn’t the best thing to do at the moment.

Defeated, Klaus collapsed onto the couch and dropped his head to his hands, the words permanently etched onto his palm pressing hard into his eyes. In an attempt to comfort him, Ben rubbed his hand up and back his brothers back. It worried him when he received no reaction. "That when well," he joked.   
  
"Maybe dads right," Klaus murmured pitifully. "I am a disappointment."  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you not to say that." Ben tutted as he rubbed and Klaus' scalp with his nails.  
  
"I'm never going to do it, am I?" Klaus said hopelessly and Ben continued rubbing his back in silence.


	2. Dave

"What do you think being in the garden is going to change?" Ben inquired as he laid against the only living patch of green grass in the unkempt garden. Klaus stood some little ways away, feet shoulder length apart, eyes squeezed shut in concentration and his hands extended before him. "I promise you, it's got nothing to do with the air."  
  
Instead of answering, Klaus wiggled his fingers and continued to concentrate. When nothing happened for a moment too long, Klaus harshly let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. "For fuck sake," he muttered as he collapsed on the ground beside his brother.   
  
"The others were right," Ben said, examining his nails. "You really do look like you need the bathroom when you do that.  
  
Klaus dug his long nails into the skin. He wasn't sure if he should give them a trim or paint them a different colour. "It's not working," he complained. "It's no use. I give up."

“Don’t be like that,” Ben yawned, crossing his arms behind his head. “You’ll get there eventually. You just need to try harder.”

“But I am trying,” Klaus whined. “It all worked when the others were watching so why can’t it happen when it really matters?” He slammed his fist into the ground like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum. “It’s not fair. I just want to bring him back for just a moment.”

Ben turned over on his side and faced his distressed brother, pillowing his head on his arms. Klaus was staring sadly up at the sky. “You haven’t seen him since Vietnam, have you?” Ben wasn’t quite sure why he asked- he knew the answer already. Knew the nights where Klaus would stare silently at the wall, clutching his dog-tags and just willing Dave to show up. Knew the nights when Klaus would toss and turn in bed and eventually wake up with his name on his lips, his hands immediately finding the security of the metal around his neck. When Klaus shook his head, Ben sighed. “You can do it, Klaus. I know you can.”

There was nothing but the rustling of the leaves in the trees above them for a few tense moments that Klaus eventually broke with a voice so filled with heart-ache that Ben could feel it in his very soul. “What if I can’t though? What if he just doesn’t exist and he was a figment of my imagination that I made up to cope with the war?” It was a common conversation that they had had multiple times over the last few years and Ben knew how it ran by now, so he stayed silent and let his brother get all his thoughts out into the open, but the last question caught him off-guard. “What if I’ve been able to conjure him all this time and he just doesn’t want to come back to me?”

If Ben had been breathing, he would have choked on his breath. He sat up on one arm so he could look down at his brothers face to tell if he was serious and almost had a heart attack once he saw that he was. “Klaus, come on, you know that’s not true. There has to be some reason why you can’t summon him- there’s no way it’s because he doesn’t want to come back to you.”

“Was I not good enough?” Klaus rambled, off on a tangent. “Was it all just a ruse? Did he feel sorry for the spindly little drug addict who had never held a gun before and was still scared to go into the trenches his first month there? Was he just putting up with it until one of us died? Was he just trying to make me feel better before I died a horrible death in the line of fire?”

Before Klaus could continue, Ben placed a hand on his arm. “You can’t think like that, Klaus. It’ll only make you feel like shit. I know he loved you- I could feel it. You just have to be patient and practice. Like mum used to say- practice makes perfect.”

“Maybe we should go in and try again tomorrow,” Klaus said heavily, mostly detached and Ben glanced down at worry. His eyes were staring straight up at the passing cloud cover. “Or maybe I should just… give up.”

Ben bit his lip. His brother was hurting and the words he wanted to say right now would do nothing but hurt him more. “Hey,” he encouraged, bumping Klaus in the shoulder. “One more time? Just try again one more time and then we’ll go in.” Klaus looked at him unconvincingly and Ben gave him the most potent puppy eyes he could manage. “For me? Please?”

With a heavy sigh, Klaus lifted himself up off the floor and wiped away the dirt and grass on his skirt. “I never could so no to that face,” he muttered before raising his arms up again. This time, Ben stood up to join him and didn’t say a word- not even a jab at how stupid he looked.

They waited a long few moments where nothing happened except a bead of sweat dripped down Klaus’s brow and a bird landed in the higher-up branches of a tree and began chirping happily. Eventually, Klaus blew out a defeated sigh and dropped his hands to his sides. “I think I’m going to take a nap.” He announced sadly to no-one in particular. “I’m going to binge a whole heap of the Real Housewives and eat all the candy in the house and then I’m going to pass out in a sweets-induced coma.”

“Alright,” Ben couldn’t help chuckling despite the situation and knew that Klaus was trying to defuse the painful tension with humour. “I’ll be sure to wake you when someone starts a fight.”

As Klaus turned away, he took his hands out of his pockets and brought them to the dog-tags around his neck. He ran his nail over the inscription before he lifted the metal cooled by his flesh to his lips and closed his eyes. He wasn’t even aware anything was happening until Ben gasped and a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

It was only then that he opened his eyes and realized the bright blue light coming from the hand clasped around the dog-tags and the calloused hand with the broken nails and dirt caked under the beds on the shoulder was one he knew all too well and that he hadn’t seen since 1968. “Hey babe,”

_“Dave.”_

* * *

 

Diego leant against the window frame with his arms crossed against his chest as he watched Klaus in the garden, arms outstretched and his body as stiff as a board. “He’s been out there for a while,” he called over his shoulder to Luther who was trying to repair a part of the wall that he had broken a few days previously. Technically, he was supposed to be helping, but Luther had always been better at the heavy lifting. “I wonder what he’s up to.”

“Who knows- it’s Klaus,” Luther grumbled as he pulled another wooden plank from the pile. “He’s probably practising that thing he showed us the other day. With Ben and dad. Speaking of dad, I feel like there’s something they’re not telling us…”

Uninterested with whatever point his brother was trying to make, Diego turned Luther out as he began to uselessly ramble while he worked. He was more focused on Klaus collapsing onto the grass with a look of exasperation and sadness almost permanently painted onto his face like he was an artwork pained on a wall. He fiddled with the rings on his fingers a few times and he turned his head to chat with Ben, but other than that, he didn’t move.

While he would never admit it, Diego had developed a new-found respect for Klaus after what he had demonstrated the other day. Despite everyone doubting him from the very beginning, the raw power that he had displayed had nearly been enough to knock Diego off of his feet, and that’s discounting Ben. Ben, the brother who died and Klaus was able to return to them, if only for a few short moments that passed way too quickly but it was time they cherished nonetheless. Ben had always been the sense of reason in their rag-tag bunch, the quiet one who kept his opinions and grievances tightly locked away inside his chest with the other monsters he kept in there. Some more literal than others. It warmed Diego’s heart to know that Klaus had him with him the whole time, keeping him more or less out of too much trouble.

But it couldn’t be just Ben that Klaus was with down there, because even from the distance between them, Diego knew what that look on his face meant. It meant that Klaus was falling down a rabbit hole of his own thoughts that just got darker and darker the deeper he fell. It meant that no matter how desperately they tried, Klaus was just going to break himself into a million tiny pieces of pain just to get himself back to a normal way of thinking. All of Diego’s brotherly instincts told him that he should abandon Luther’s meaningless project that he could handle alone and join his brother down in the gardens, but he knew now that Ben was always there to handle it. Diego often wondered if-

“Hey,” Thick gloved fingers snapped repeatedly in front of his face and Diego blinked himself out of his thoughts. He glared up at the unamused face of Luther. “Are you even listening to a word I’m saying?”

“No,” Diego said, repositioning himself against the wall. Sighing, Luther dropped the hammer he was holding and moved to join his brother on the opposite side of the window. “I’m just thinking about Klaus.”

“Why?” Luther snorted. He waved a hand out the window at the clearly distressed Klaus. “He’s fine! He’s watching the clouds- what more could you ask for?”

Scoffing, Diego looked up at his oblivious brother and resisted the urge to punch that bored look right off of his face. “Geeze, Luther, four years on the moon and you forget what it’s like to be human.” He waved a hand at Klaus. “He’s not alright- something’s wrong. I think it’s got to do with… someone he lost. Someone he loved.”

Luther rolled his eyes. “Right, because you know enough about Klaus to know why he’s upset.”

“I know more than you,” Diego snapped. He pointed out the window. Klaus was just beginning to reluctantly stand up and dust himself off. “You have no idea what he’s feeling and not a single one of us have thought to ask. Thank god he’s had Ben with him all these years.” He shook his head. “You don’t understand; Luther- he’s trying to bring Dave back. I can feel it in my bones.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Luther closed his eyes. “Listen, Diego, I know you’re worried. But we have nothing to worry about- if he’s trying to bring this guy back then he’ll other do it or he won’t, and if it doesn’t work he’ll try again if he loves this guy enough. It’ll be fine.”

Diego shook his head. “I know. It’s just, after yesterday, with dad and the ghosts… I just want to make sure he’s alright. Especially if he’s going to try and do this again.”

“Alright,” Luther relented. “We’ll watch until he comes back inside. Deal?”

“Deal,”

The two brothers stood side by side as they watched Klaus thrust out his arms and wait once again. It seemed like all he had been doing lately was waiting. But nonetheless, he eventually dropped his hands to his sides, turned around and began to make his way back inside the estate. Luther placed a hand on his shoulder. “See? He’s fine. Let’s get back to work.”

But Diego had watched a few moments longer, at the hand Klaus had brought to his lips and Diego was certain that between his fingers he held Dave’s dog-tags. That didn’t surprise him-  what had supposed him, though, was the soft blue glow that shone from the hand by his lips and the ghostly, form of a man that slowly took shape into a solid being. Military jacket over an orange striped shirt and a cocky smile on his face. There was a bleeding hole in the middle of his chest.

“ _Dave_ ,” Diego breathed and Luther spun around, confused. Diego was almost positive that he could hear Luther’s jaw hitting the floor. Even from this distance, he could see the love in Dave’s eyes as he placed a hand on Klaus’s shoulder- it was something almost overwhelming. Klaus slowly turned around and collapsed into Dave’s arms, sobbing into his shirt as they embraced. Dave smoothed down the wild mane of Klaus’s hair as the other man clung to him for dear life.

And when they kissed, Diego finally looked away, because the passion and desperation between the two of them in their private moment were too much for him to bear- and he also didn’t want anyone seeing the tears brimming in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be a stupid thought but I feel like because of all the ghosts and the dead people Klaus has following him all the time, Ben included because they're attached at the hip, his skin would be cold. Like when ghost hunters enter a haunted room and the temperature drops.


End file.
